Articles and other writings of Emily Sanderson Olsen

Three schools fail AYP standards

In 2008-2009 school year, three schools in Sanpete County failed to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards associated with the federal No Child Left Behind statutes.

They are Gunnison Valley Elementary, Gunnison Valley Middle School and North Sanpete Middle School in Moroni, according to the State Office of Education website.

The standards measure students in socioeconomic and ethnic groups as well as a group for students with special needs. Gunnison Valley Elementary School failed in language arts among the economically disadvantaged students. Gunnison Valley Middle School failed in language arts among students with disabilities, as did North Sanpete Middle School.

“Having the name of our school published in the paper because we didn’t pass AYP is not a catastrophic event because it was inevitable,” said Gunnison Valley Middle School Principal Alan Peterson. “I can think of no public school that it is realistically feasible that they will not have some subgroup that will pull the entire school down.”

“But that doesn’t negate all the positive things that are going on in these schools with the vast majority of the kids,” he said.

North Sanpete Middle School hasn’t passed twice before among students with disabilities — in the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 school years. Gunnison Valley Elementary School didn’t pass in 2006-2007 among economically disadvantage students; however, this is the first time Gunnison Valley Middle School didn’t pass.

After two consecutive years at a Title 1 school, parents have the option of moving their child to another school. Title 1 schools are elementary schools that receive special funding to assist young children in the teaching process.

But for the middle schools, not passing AYP is more or less a black mark, said Superintendent Courtney Symes of North Sanpete School District.

“I have to believe that people will understand that this only affects students with disabilities [at North Sanpete Middle School],” Symes said, “The law is not fair.”

Only some students with disabilities are exempt from taking the test; those that are deemed capable take the same AYP test as the other students, Symes said.

“It’s difficult to promise that those kids will improve,” Symes said. “At the middle school we deal with 50 percent new students each year.”

According to No Child Left Behind, if a school’s programs are solid, then kids will improve. But Symes disagrees, saying that instead, the kids are singled out.

“I think it is disrespectful to those students. They are in our schools, and we love them,” Symes said. “We will make sure kids are improving as much as they can.”

Principal Grant Hansen of Gunnison Valley Elementary School said it’s the responsibility of the school and the parents to make sure young students are successful. “We are disappointed that we didn’t pass all the areas of the test,” he said.

But not everyone can perform at the same level. Students have different abilities, he said.

“Less than 10 students didn’t pass the test.”

Teachers of those students have been made aware of the poor grades and those students are going to receive special attention to see that they pass the test this school year, he said.

Principal Hansen said that the Utah Office of Education’s U-PASS test is similar to AYP, but is also measures progress over time.

“On a state level, we are doing really well,” he said. “We are pleased that we are showing growth from year to year.”

The No Child Left Behind statutes require that students across the country achieve 100 percent on the AYP test by the year 2014, which bth principals Hansen and Peterson said will be impossible to achieve.

“The problem with the legislation will be a national concern,” Principal Hansen said.

“How many private schools have school buses with wheelchair lifts? Under federal law, we are required to take everybody,” Principal Peterson said. “And yet we are held under a magnifying glass. It is impossible to get all the students to perform at the same level.”

“We are not fealing with nuts and bolts in a machine,” he continued. “We are dealing with the human mind.”

Despite the poor grade, he’s pleased with the quality of education his students are receiving.

“The teachers do a phenomenal job with the very limited resources that the State Office of Education gives them,” he said.

But he also said teacher performance is one factor under scrutiny in schools that fail AYP.

“The teachers are the ones that are ultimately responsible,” Peterson said. “We are going to make the necessary changes. Marginal teachers will need to improve.”

In each of the three schools, if they don’t fail again next year, the schools will be back in good standing.

Statewide, the number of elementary and middle schools that made the grade was up from 85 percent in the 2007-2008 school year to 91 percent in 2008-2009, although the number of high schools in the state that made AYP declined from 94 percent in 2007-2008 to 84 percent in 2008-2009, according to the State Office of Education.